HOB Filter's for large tanks - No One But Me?

nothing wrong with hang on backs, its just a lot easier to go with a wet/dry. my wetdry is the easier filter i have to clean and i dont have a bunch of tubes in the tank, you can even put your heater in the wet/dry's sump too. i guess most people if they are going to spend the money for a big tank they want to get the bet of everything and get the clean look. i wouldnt want tubes from 4 emp. 400s hanging off my tank. and thats 16 filter cartridges to clean. and acylic tanks wont even hold the filters without modifications because they dont have the top lip like on glass tanks.

I've changed most of my tanks over to the bio-wheel HOB filters. For me they are much easier to maintain than canisters. It's been about 15 years since I had a wet/dry, so I'm not sure what they are like to use these days.

i hate the waterfall sound, well dont really mind but i dont want them in my bedroom or tv room. and the pond waterfall is already too loud. wet/drys work good because the media is exposed to air. on my setup theres just 2 holes drilled into the back of my tank which plumbs it to the sump with the bioballs. the water flows through that and a pump at the bottom pumps the water back to the tank, to complete the cycle. cleaning is easy, once a month or so i replace the pad thats over the bioballs and rinse out the mechanical filter bag. i usaully have to put a gallon of water into the sump every few days because of evaporation. only disadvantage i can think of is if you buy one they are expensive and can be a little loud if you have a tall stand. i used a standpipe, insulated the pipes and raised the water level a little, but its hard to keep 1500 gph of water perfectly quiet.

Originally posted by cubano
I have several tanks from 55g - 125g and I've always used several Marineland or Penguin HOB Bio Wheel filters in my tanks for filtration. Reading posts here I noticed almost everyone that keeps larger tanks tanking about wet/dry filters and Sub Pumps (neither of which I'm very familiar with), so I'm wondering, am I going against the recommendation of most of you who keep larger tanks, and if so why?

Thanks

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ummmmmmmm, a bio-wheel filter is a wet/dry.......

i'm guessing you're referring to sump systems tho. it takes alot of HOB types to equal the gph and area of a sump.

personally i use a combination of HOB or HOB and canister on all my tanks (to 90g). if i got up around 200g i might want a sump, but i still think i'd augment that with a canister or something. sumps draw water from the top and i like the idea of something drawing water in from the bottom also, some wastes are pretty heavy.

I also think a combination of HOB and a good Canister filter like a Rena xP-3 is nice. I would not use a HOB with live plants as they cause too much surface movement that removes CO2 the plants need....

When I hear the term "wet/dry" I automatically think "saltwater filters"... sump, etc..

When I get my big tank I will be having an HOB/canister combo. I like the fact that you can quickly swap out filter media with turning things off, which makes it easy to add carbon or that ammonia stuff (zeolight?) if really needed (haven't needed it yet).

Canisters have an intake and outlet tube like a hob but they set under the tank and have hoses that connect them. They are a sealed unit that are a little bit more of a pain to maintain but they tend to filter a little better because the water is forced through the media under pressure instead of passing through due to gravity like a HOB. On my 90 central/south american cichlid tank I run to aqua clear 500's and one marineland magnum 350 and on my 55 gal african I run 2 penn-plax 300 waterfall HOB and on fluval 404 canister. I personaly like the marineland better because its easier to maintain but the fluval has alot more media combinations possible
They range from about $50.00 for some of the smaller rena fillstars all the way up to $200-$300 dollars for some of the top of the line ehimes. If you want to look at them online there sold at www.bialsonline.com and also www.thatfishplace.com is a good site to check them out on.
I mainly use them because I have no more space for HOB on the backs of my tank.